Sandkaker: Norwegian Christmas Cookie Challenge 1

Earlier this week I set myself a challenge to bake the 7 traditional Christmas cookies that are normally eaten in Norway at this time of the year.  I thought I’d start with an easy one – Sandkaker (or Sand Cakes) and to be honest it didn’t quite go to plan.  I’ve outlined the recipe I used below along with some tips that we picked up along the way but I would probably recommend you use another recipe such as this one.

I think there must have been an error on the Aperitif website because it didn’t make 16 servings…it made 60!  It also didn’t bind together very well so I’m convinced the measurements were incorrect.

Recipe:

• 250 g smør (Butter)
• 250 g sukker (Sugar)
• 250 g hvetemel (Plain Flour)
• 250 g malte mandler (Ground Almonds – if you want to do it properly you can grind the almonds yourself or if you’re like me, you can buy them pre-prepared but don’t search the supermarkets in Norway.  You won’t find them.  Go to a  health food shop – they sell Ground Almonds there)
• Metal Sandkaker casings

Method:

1. Cream together the sugar and the butter
2. Add the flour and almonds and mix into a dough
3. Push into the Sandkaker casings
4. Cook for 5-10 minutes on 175 degrees
5. Allow to cool and serve with cream, berries or jam!

Sarah’s Tips:

• This recipe made 60 portions – not 16 as stated on the website!  Halve the ingredients and add an egg to bind it together into a dough mix or use an alternative recipe
• Try adding some almond essence since the Ground Almonds didn’t really make too much of a difference to the flavour
• Roll it into a fat sausage shape and then cut slices – it’s easier to push them into the individual tins that way
• Once you’ve pushed the mix into the metal casing, take an empty casing and stack it on top so you get the pattern both inside and outside of the cookie
• Finally, trim off the edges before placing in the oven